Chapter 7
My body began to hum and vibrate, and I quickly shut my eyes in preparation for what was coming. There was a bright pulse of light, and when I opened my eyes again, we were back in the transporter room on the spaceship.
We were all back, but the robot was nowhere to be seen, and I wondered if it would ever be recovered from the bunker room, or if perhaps it’d been transported somewhere else.
I wasn’t sure why, but I certainly hoped so.
I moved into the common room and immediately noticed the giant table was back, and this time it featured foods that looked like they’d been pulled straight from a Thanksgiving dinner scene from a movie.
There were green beans, fresh rolls, mashed potatoes with gravy, candied yams, a giant turkey, juicy ham, and fresh salads. Not to mention the countless pies I could see scattered among the other dishes.
We all moved to the table to grab some food, and similar to yesterday, I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until I actually sat down and started to eat. We sat in our divided groups: Kyle and his minions, and me with my new friends, and fortunately, Kyle didn’t try his usual antics.
Nobody was particularly talkative, and we all ate in silence. I figured the realization that there was more to these ‘games’ was finally setting in for everyone.
Just like yesterday, as soon as dinner was finished, the disembodied voice announced it was time for bed. This time, no one attempted to stay up, and we all marched down the hall to our individual bedrooms.
As soon as I was inside my room, I locked the door and headed straight into the bathroom to shower. I yanked the white t-shirt off and began to do the same with the swim trunks, but one of the sides felt a bit heavier than the other, and I remembered the metal piece I’d found in the sand.
I quickly dropped down to the floor and removed the bottom drawer from the bathroom’s cabinet. The first foreign item I’d found was still there in its original hiding place.
I pulled it out and then retrieved the one from my pocket as well, and I held them up to compare. They were certainly differently shaped and sized, but I was right about the material.
They both appeared to be made of the same strange dark metal, and as I studied the two objects side by side, I noticed that some of their protrusions and divots seemed to line up slightly.
There was no way… right?
I turned both pieces over and over again, until I found a spot where the patterns seemed to line up exactly, and I carefully pushed the two pieces together. There was a slight click, and the two pieces almost seemed to fuse themselves together.
I tried to tug them apart, but they wouldn’t budge, and it was like they were one piece now.
Other than the initial clicking sound, nothing else seemed to happen, though, and I studied the object again.
What was this thing?
There were still dozens of little protrusions and divots all over it, and given how the two pieces had snapped together, I assumed that meant there were still several pieces to find.
Would they be on the ship? Was there one in each round of the games?
If I found all the pieces and correctly puzzled it together, what would this item become? And what would its purpose be?
As of that moment, it just looked like a small metal blob.
Then there was my other question.
Why?
What were the pieces for, exactly? And had they been left there on purpose for me to find?
I wasn’t sure.
I studied the object for a while longer before I placed it back in its hiding spot and replaced the drawer.
Then I took my swim trunks off and hopped in the shower.
As modern as the shower appeared, it still worked exactly as a normal shower should.
Thank God.
The only difference I noticed was when I turned the water to hot, it instantly became hot, and that was a change I could most certainly live with.
Once I felt thoroughly warm and clean, I stepped out of the shower, toweled off, put my bodysuit back on, and climbed into bed.
This time, it wasn’t as difficult to fall asleep as it had been the previous night, and I felt my eyes grow heavy almost the second my head hit the pillow.
The lights just shut off automatically without me having to ask again, and I quickly drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, I woke up and made my way into the common room to find the huge table was gone again, and the counter was back and filled with the same types of breakfast foods as yesterday.
I loaded my plate up with pancakes topped with fresh fruit, whipped cream, and an unhealthy amount of syrup. I also grabbed more scrambled eggs and snagged an orange juice on my way over to Tyler and the rest of my group, who were already up and waiting for me.
“Good morning,” I greeted them as I sat down in the open space next to Sadie.
They all greeted me with ‘good mornings’ of their own, but the mood felt a bit more somber, and I knew they were all stressing about what new challenge today would bring.
I was worried about it, too, but I didn’t let it show on my face, and I made sure to keep a cheerful expression as I dug into my food.
Morale was everything to a group, and my aim was to keep ours high.
I bit into my stack of syrupy, buttery pancakes, and I made sure the bite had a little bit of everything on it. It was so good, I actually had to close my eyes to savor it for a moment.
The pancakes were light and fluffy, and the fresh fruit was a mix of tart and sweet, while the syrup helped round out their flavor. The butter was lightly salted, and the whipped cream added a more rich flavor.
I was in heaven.
My first instinct was to devour my food. I wanted all those delicious flavors in my mouth right now, but I forced myself to take small bites, to chew thoroughly, and to fully savor each little taste.
It was the right thing to do because it made my delicious meal last a hell of a lot longer than it normally would have.
“What do you think the game will be today?” Parker asked with a little frown.
“I hope it’s something simple, like the speed dating,” Claire said as her eyebrows scrunched together.
If yesterday’s events had been any indication, today’s game would most certainly not be simple, but I wasn’t about to share that thought with anyone else.
“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see,” I said. “But I’m sure whatever it is, we’ll be fine.”
They all looked like they wanted to feel assured but couldn’t quite bring themselves to do so. I couldn’t blame them, because I was in the exact same boat. I’d love nothing better than to believe my own words, but I couldn’t help but feel that the worst was yet to come.
Wasn’t that how games typically worked anyway? They started off simple and then slowly grew more difficult as you went?
“Proceed to your rooms to get changed,” the disembodied voice suddenly spoke. “Then return to the common room for further instruction.”
I stood up and glanced meaningfully at each of my companions before I turned and moved back down the hallway.
I could feel each of them as they followed behind me.
When I got to my bedroom, I was surprised to see my old clothes, the ones I wore to the city plaza. They were clean and neatly folded on my bed, and there was nothing else around.
Was I supposed to wear these? Why would the aliens give me back my old clothes?
I carefully slipped out of my bodysuit and pulled my old clothes back on. They’d originally felt so comfortable and casual, but now, after wearing the clothing the aliens had provided me, my old clothes felt almost tight and restrictive.
I put them on anyway, as well as my sneakers.
The aliens had given me my clothes back, and I wished they’d done the same with my knife and gun. This would do for the time being, I guessed.
Once I was fully dressed, I went back into the lounge area, where I waited for the others. One by one, the other contestants appeared, and they were all dressed in exactly what they’d shown up that first day in.
Which brought me even more amusement because we were about to participate in some random game the aliens cooked up for us, and Kyle was decked out in a three-piece suit.
I still wasn’t sure what he’d been thinking when he chose his attire.
Once we were all gathered in the main room again, the robotic voice continued to speak.
“We will now be implementing a favor system, which can be accessed the same way you access your point status screen. Favor points can be earned by impressing those who are watching your progress in the games.”
Favor points? I tapped twice on my collar, and my status screen popped up. Sure enough, there was a new section labeled ‘favor.’ Unlike the other categories, the favor one didn’t have any dull bars to be filled. Instead, next to the word was just a blank screen.
Did that mean earning favor points could potentially be unlimited?
And what had the voice meant by we could earn those points by impressing those who are watching? Were these games actually being broadcast? I knew it had been mentioned before, but I hadn’t thought much about it since I’d never really seen a camera anywhere.
That didn’t necessarily mean they weren’t there, though.
And exactly how much was being broadcasted? Was it just the actual rounds of games, or were other things included as well? Was it being broadcasted on Earth or to other civilizations across the galaxy?
I thought back to the previous night when I’d taken a shower. I’d been completely naked. Had I been filmed then, too? And what about each time I secretly took those two metal pieces? Had I actually been as sneaky as I’d thought, or had someone been watching my actions the entire time?
“Favor points can be used to get things you need or want,” the voice went on.
I glanced at my screen again, at the blank section labeled ‘favor.’ We could use the points we earned to get stuff? What sort of things were we talking about? The announcer never really went into detail.
I was about to close my screen again when something else caught my eye. I had two new glowing bars on my status screen: a new one in mind and a second one in senses.